Caution for diabetics changing to a Low Carb Diet
 

Dr. William Davis, of Wheat Belly fame, has special information in the Introduction to his new Wheat Belly Cookbook that applies to a diabetic on medications switching to a low carb diet. Have been meaning to post this as a thread because it has more details with specific drug names, than this forum’s usual caution to test, test, test often to avoid hypoglycemia and work with your doctor. Dr. Davis also writes it is best to work with your health-care provider, but if you are not lucky enough to have one knowledgable in using low carb diet, this information may be helpful.

Thank you, although I'm a Type 1 any information on stabilizing blood sugar during low carb is very much appreciated.

Dr. Davis has reprinted this same section on his blog too, since this is such an important warning. Just a repeat, but in a form you can copy:
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2013/...r-hypoglycemia/

And an easy way to do this is to drop carbs in steps over a week or so. It also makes a difference if you are using basal insulin or bolus insulin, or both.

Type 2 diabetic. I was prescribed glipizide more than a year ago with the vague advice to "watch what I eat." Yeah, I watched it go into my mouth and used the glipizide in an attempt to get my BG down, while not cutting carbs much at all. Didn't work too well - too much like a roller coaster with insane highs and lows. A few months ago a nutrition nurse advised me to stop using glipizide and work on my diet. By then I'd read Dr. Bernstein's book "The Diabetes Diet" and "Wheat Belly."

Now with no wheat at all (it is a trigger food for me - if I eat one slice of bread it doesn't take long for the rest of the loaf to follow) and really sticking to low-carb, I'm finally getting my BG down, as well as my blood pressure, which had been going up.

I'm so happy to have found this forum. Lots of good advice & some interesting-looking recipes. I love to cook, so finding low-carb recipes is a great help for me.

Welcome..seems that you have found a road to better health with low carb. There are many low carb diabetic bloggers, resources, etc..look around threads here for more support.
If you don't follow Dr Bernstein's Diabetes diet, using all of Dr Davis's rules (no grains, no sugar, 1 serving dairy) may give good BG control as well. Wheat Belly Diet has been called "Paleo Lite" as he tries to make his plan a bit easier. He has some good bread substitutes in his cookbook, and on his blog. I also use this site's recipe and cut this Flaxbread http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/br...laxbasicfoc.htm into squares and freeze, but as with any food test your reaction to these recipes. Too much also stops weight loss for me. If you are really into baking, Peter Reinhard's Joy of gluten free and sugar free Baking has great recipes..my library has both these cookbooks.

Got that book. It is amazing.

Janet thanks so much! Unfortunately, didn't see this earlier& had some lows - awful & scary - in the middle of the night, of couse! Then, jumped off & on low carb with more negative consequences, but finally back on & a doctor who might actually be somewhat helpful! Ah. The good life! Now I just need to figure out how to go lc & not get hypos. I'm continuing to read & research!

Glad this article could help. Hope your new doctor can help you with LC and med adjustments.
See you are in CO...have you heard of Dr. Gerber? He has some good interviews and video talks. http://jgerbermd.com
All the best,

Checked out Dr. Gerber's website in the past - lots of good info. He's about 100+ miles from where I live, but maybe one day. I've also been reading Dr. Bernstein - also very helpful. The previous doctor I visited wasn't any help - I told him I was doing a LC woe & wanted to decrease (eventually eliminate) some medications. He suggested a new diet pill on the market! He commented that my lowest A1c in many years 6.1- was fair. Very frustrating.

Volek & Phinney's Art & Science of LC also very helpful & informative. Great resources! Thanks!

Newbie question here. I've been seeing the word "woe" used in conjunction with low carb diet. I suppose it's an acronym - what does it mean?

woe = way of eating (often compared with "diet", a short term solution)

Janet, thanks for posting Dr Gerber's website. I'd not seen it before but will be checking it regularly. Excellent!

Thank you! Funny how the meanings of words change over the years. Diet used to mean woe, that is, one's ongoing, regular daily diet.

Hi Bonnie! I'm with you on some of these acronyms being confusing! I used "WOE" because I saw someone get blasted on another site for using "diet"! I used to use diet all the time, but now it's like a dirty word! I like Jenny Ruhl's term of "eating off plan" (Author of Blood Sugar 101).
There might be a list of acronyms on this site, but not sure.But welcome to the low carb life!


welcome







a list of acronyms

Thank you! I can't say I'm loving the restrictions yet, but I am loving the results. And I'm learning so much from this site. Learning from books is good, but new information pops up in conversation that authors may not think to put in their books.

I wish I had known all this years ago, when I was still pre-diabetic. :mad:

So true. I guess WOE is synonymous with "diet" and the opposite of "a diet". Funny how one letter makes such a difference.

Bonnie, have you checked the Blood Sugar 101 website? She's got a lot of great info. about diabetes.
I agree, the restrictions can be very discouraging! But hang in there, it does get better. (Not necessarily easier! But better!)

Thanks! I'm going to the website now. :)

And there is. Go to Tips on the green bar at the top of the page and scroll down to Low Carb Lingo. Lots of other useful info there too. :)

Rosebud, there is so much info up in that green bar! :idea:
Thanks for the reminder :thup:

A late thank you, Rosebud! I went to the green bar/tips & thoroughly enjoyed reading a bunch of information! And, I knew there just had to be a list of acronyms available. Thanks!

I ended up stopping all my insulin about 5-6 weeks into *strict* 100% compliance with Dr. Bernstein's "Diabetes Solution" because even taking as little as 5 units of Lantus in the morning, I was having crashes at 1 a.m. Without the Lantus, my BG's were roughly 135, but I let it ride since I was watching it slowly come down. My doc wanted to put me on Metformin but I'd had serious crashes when I went on it years ago and I won't take any of the newer ones due to the side effects and warnings. I understood when she put in the chart that this was against her advice (she's covering her butt), but she did tell me that it was probably the only way I was going to control the crashes on such a low carb diet.

Over the next 7-8 weeks, by BG's went from 135 to 90...without medication, but I was very strict with my protein and carbs.

You give me hope! I'm still taking my metformin - 2000 mg daily - and my fasting BG has been going down. Yesterday & today it was 93, tho it tends to be on the other side of 100 most mornings.

I'm not sure if I should experiment by reducing my dose by a pill at a time, or wait until my next dr visit & see what my A1c is.

I'm looking forward to the day when I'm medication free!

If you're not comfortable doing it without talking to your doc, I'd get her on the phone because if your fasting is 93, it sounds like you might be risking too low numbers as you continue with the low carb. What are your numbers like the rest of the day?

Agree with Elfie. Take your BG all day today, pre and post 1 and 2 hours for every meal and before bed. Eat your typical LC meals at times you normally eat. Call your doctor's office tomorrow with numbers for medication advice.

I'd wait until you get your A1c numbers. 93 isn't by any reckoning low. It is pretty typical for a low carber with physiological insulin resistance.

The problem with going by the A1c is that when I still had an A1c of 10, my BG's were already under 100. It's just that the A1c reflects the previous 3 months...not necessarily what is going on currently. Medication should be taken based on *current* info.

Yesterday I forgot to take my evening pills and this morning my BG was 90! So it's probably safe to reduce or even go without. I didn't take any today & checked before I ate a late lunch (I had a small snack about an hour or so earlier) and it was 99. And part of that snack was a bite of my husband's sweet roll. :yum:

So it looks like I'll be all right. I'll keep checking tho to see if it goes up too much. I've got VA insurance and it's kind of difficult sometimes to get an appointment. Tho for just an A1c I need an OK from the doctor, not an appointment. I don't even know what doctor I'll be talking to as there have been transfers and retirements. Lots of new faces!

I realize this isn't a current thread, but for anyone else who reads this now, just to advise that Walmart sells an A1c kit for $9. (Blood drops onto a paper that you send in.)

I tried it after some people on this site said it was accurate and found that it corresponds to what I've had done at the doc pretty closely.